An interpretation of the line-strength indexes in old stellar populations using an evolutionary synthesis approach

Evolutionary population synthesis models with dif­ferent metallicities have been computed in order to interpret the observed Mg_2 and Hβ, line-strength indices in old stellar popu­lations. Both indices are found to be quite insensitive to changes in the slope of the IMF and the upper mass limit. These models have been applied to three different cases, with the following results: a) Galactic globular clusters do not exhibit a significant dis­persion in age, and the metallicities of the computed models resemble those estimated for the clusters. The indices for the metal-poor globulars ([Fe/H] < -1) cannot be attained with these models due to the lack of low metallicity evolutionary tracks and stellar spectra libraries. b) The line-strength gradients observed in the elliptical gal­axy NGC 5813 are due, essentially, to intrinsic variations in metallicity, and they cannot be explained just from changes in the remaining parameters of the stellar population. c) In order to synthesize the M 32 indices we must introduce a star formation elapsed for a long time-scale , the star forrnation being still significant ≈ 5 Gyr ago

Spectral gradients in central cluster galaxies: further evidence of star formation in cooling flows

We have obtained radial gradients in the spectral features of the lambda 4000-Angstrom break (D(4000)) and Mg(2) for a sample of 11 central cluster galaxies (CCGs): eight in clusters with cooling flows and three in clusters without. After careful removal of the emission lines found within the D(4000) and Mg(2) bandpasses for some objects, the new data strongly confirm the correlations between line-strength indices and the cooling flow phenomenon found in our earlier study. We find that such correlations depend on the presence and characteristics of emission lines in the inner regions of the CCGs. The nuclear indices are correlated with the mass deposition rate ((M) over dot) only when emission lines are found in the central regions of the galaxies. The central D(4000) and Mg(2) indices in cooling flow galaxies without emission lines are completely consistent with the indices measured in CCGs in clusters without cooling flows. CCGs in cooling flow clusters exhibit a clear sequence in the D(4000)-Mg(2) plane, with a neat segregation depending on emission-line type and blue morphology. This sequence can be modelled, using stellar population models with a normal initial mass function (IMF), by a recent (similar to 0.1 Gyr old) burst of star formation, although model uncertainties do not allow us to completely discard continuous star formation or a series of bursts over the last few Gyr. In CCGs with emission lines, the gradients in the spectral indices are flat or positive inside the emission-line regions, suggesting the presence of young stars. Outside the emission-line regions, and in cooling flow galaxies without emission lines, gradients are negative and consistent with those measured in CCGs in clusters without cooling hows and giant elliptical galaxies. Index gradients measured exclusively in the emission-line region correlate with hi. Using the same population models we have estimated the radial profiles of the mass transformed into new stars. The derived profiles are remarkably parallel to the expected radial behaviour of the mass deposition rate derived from X-ray observations. Moreover, a large fraction (probably most) of the cooling flow gas accreted into the emission-line region is converted into stars. In the Light of these new data, we discuss the evolutionary sequence suggested by McNamara, in which radio-triggered star formation bursts take place several times during the lifetime of the cooling flow. We conclude that this scenario is consistent with the available observations

Line-strengths in early-type galaxies

We have analysed Mg, Hβ and Fe line-strengths in a sample of elliptical, SO and brightest cluster galaxies. For 15 galaxies, our spectra extend to approximately the half-light radius(r_e), and we are able to measure radial line-strength gradients. The metallic line-strength gradients vary markedly from object to object, and do not correlate strongly with parameters such as total luminosity and rotation, though we find sorne evidence that gradients in the Mg_2 index correlate with central velocity dispersion and central line-strength. The highly variable line-strength gradients in early-type galaxies shows that they have experienced different star formation histories. We suggest that this may be explained if they formed by the mergers of subunits in which star formation had proceeded to varying degrees of completion. We find that the line-strengths at r~r_e in elliptical galaxies are slightly larger than those of metal­ rich galactic globulars, suggesting that typical elliptical galaxies have roughly solar abundance at r~r_e and therefore that most ellipticals have relatively weak abundance gradients. The relative line-strengths in the outer parts of ellipticals differ from those in the nuclei of low-luminosity ellipticals, indicating that these stellar populations do not represent a simple one-parameter family governed by mean metal abundance. We find no significant differences in the central Mg and Fe line-strengths of the brightest cluster galaxies and normal ellipticals with the same central velocity dispersion. How­ ever, we find that two cD galaxies show Hβ in emission and are also at the centres of the prodigious cooling flows with mass-deposition rates of ≥ 100 M_⨀ yr^-1. Galaxies with cooling flows have identical Mg and Fe line-strengths to galaxies without cooling flows. We show that this implies that only a small fraction of the total luminosity of cooling flow galaxies could come from ongoing star formation with a normal stellar initial mass function

Formation and evolution of dwarf early-type galaxies in the Virgo cluster II. Kinematic scaling relations (Corrigendum) (vol 548, pg A76, 2012)

© ESO, 2013Depto. de Física de la Tierra y AstrofísicaFac. de Ciencias FísicasTRUEpu

Using spectroscopic data to disentangle stellar population properties

It is well known that, when analyzed in the light of current synthesis model predictions, variations in the physical properties of single stellar populations (e.g. age, metallicity, initial mass function, element abundance ratios) may have a similar effect in their integrated spectral energy distributions. The confusion is even worsened when more realistic scenarios, i.e. composite star formation histories, are considered. This is, in fact, one of the major problems when facing the study of stellar populations in star clusters and galaxies. Typically, the observational efforts have aimed to find the most appropriate spectroscopic indicators in order to avoid, as far as possible, degeneracies in the parameter space. However, from a practical point of view, the most suited observables are not, necessarily, those that provide more orthogonality in that parameter space, but those that give the best balance between parameter degeneracy and sensitivity to signal-to-noise ratio per Angstrom, S/N(Angstrom). In order to achieve the minimum combined total error in the derived physical parameters, this work discusses how the functional dependence of typical line-strength indices and colors on S/N(Angstrom) allows to define a suitability parameter which helps to obtain more realistic combinations of spectroscopic data. As an example, we discuss in more detail the problem of breaking the well known age-metallicity degeneracy in relatively old stellar populations, comparing the suitability of different spectroscopic diagrams for a simple stellar population of solar metallicity and of 12 Gyr in age

Old stellar populations .4. Empirical fitting functions for features in the Spectra of G and K stars

Empirical fitting functions are presented that model the behavior of 11 strong atomic and molecular features in the spectra of Galactic G and K stars. The functions express the strength of spectral features as a function of V - K, surface gravity, and metallicity. The gravity calibration rests on stars in Galactic globular and open clusters, for which gravities have been derived by fitting to stellar evolutionary isochrones. The range of application of the fitting functions is set by the calibrating stars. There is good metallicity coverage from [Fe/H] = -0.75 to +0.50 dex, and cluster ages span 3.15 x 10^9 yr. However, the range in age is large only near solar metallicity, and the gravity partial derivatives may therefore be uncertain at metallicities much higher or lower than this value. In addition, the fitting functions build in whatever abundance ratio trajectories of elements relative to iron are present in local Galactic stars; these might differ from the element ratios present in external galaxies. In general, the behavior of the fitting functions matches expectations as to how these spectral features should behave as a function of basic stellar atmospheric parameters. The exception is CN (4150 Å), for which we find strong evidence for rapid onset of giant-branch mixing of CNO products to the stellar surface, setting in at V - K = 2.10. This confirms other recent studies of this index. The paper also presents new Lick line strength data on 112 field dwarfs and 92 cluster stars, plus colors, metallicities, and surface gravities for all Lick G and K stars published previously. The fitting functions are inverted to produce new output gravity and metallicity estimates for these stars and new average metallicities for all clusters, with errors of ±0.15 dex in [Fe/H] and ±0.23 dex in log g per star

A K band survey in the Groth Strip Flanking Fields

As a part of our collaboration in the COSMOS Project, devoted to the characterization of galaxies during the ep o c h of maximum star formation in the history of the Universe, we have carried out a deep photometric survey covering about 380 arcmin^(2) in the so-called Groth Strip Flanking Fields. The observations were obtained in the K´ band with the OMEGA-PRIME infrared camera at the 3.5 m telescope at the Hispano–German Calar Alto Observatory . Galaxy counts and photometric redshifts will be computed in order to prepare future observations with EMIR

Medium-resolution Isaac Newton Telescope library of empirical spectra - II. The stellar atmospheric parameters

We present a homogeneous set of stellar atmospheric parameters (T-eff, log g, [Fe/H]) for MILES, a new spectral stellar library covering the range lambda lambda 3525-7500 angstrom at 2.3 angstrom (FWHM) spectral resolution. The library consists of 985 stars spanning a large range in atmospheric parameters, from super-metal-rich, cool stars to hot, metal-poor stars. The spectral resolution, spectral type coverage and number of stars represent a substantial improvement over previous libraries used in population synthesis models. The atmospheric parameters that we present here are the result of a previous, extensive compilation from the literature. In order to construct a homogeneous data set of atmospheric parameters we have taken the sample of stars of Soubiran, Katz & Cayrel, which has very well determined fundamental parameters, as the standard reference system for our field stars, and have calibrated and bootstrapped the data from other papers against it. The atmospheric parameters for our cluster stars have also been revised and updated according to recent metallicity scales, colour-temperature relations and improved set of isochrones

Erratum: Stellar kinematics and structural properties of Virgo cluster dwarf early-type galaxies from the smakced project. II. The survey and a systematic analysis of kinematic anomalies and asymmetries (vol 215, 17, 2014)

© 2015. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Artículo firmado por 18 autores.Depto. de Física de la Tierra y AstrofísicaFac. de Ciencias FísicasTRUEpu

Line strengths and line strength gradients in bulges along the Hubble sequence

We present first results of a comprehensive survey of deep long-slit spectra along the minor axis of bulges of edge-on spiral galaxies. Our results indicate that stellar populations in bulges are fairly old and encompass a range of metallicities. The luminosity-weighted ages of bulges range from those found for cluster ellipticals to slightly 'younger' (by up to only a few Gyr, however). Their alpha/Fe element ratio is typically supersolar, consistent with those found in giant ellipticals. The radial line-strength gradients in bulges correlate with bulge luminosity. Generally, these findings are more compatible with predictions of the 'dissipative collapse' model than with those of the 'secular evolution' model